The series is set against the backdrop of the Xinyao Movement, synonymous with the pursuit of dreams of a young generation of Singaporeans in the local music industry, and a part of Singapore culture many still hold dear.[1]
Cast
Main cast
Christopher Lee as Yang Yiwei 杨毅伟. One of the members of "Crescendo" in the late 80s who aspires to spread the xinyao movement. Brian Ng 黄超群 as Teenage Yang.
Tay Ping Hui as Jiang Chufan 江楚帆. One of the members of "Crescendo" in the late 80s. Xu Bin as Teenage Jiang. Singing voice provided by Elton Lee 李泓伸
Teenage version portrayed by Fraser Tiong 张家奇 One of the members of "Crescendo" in the late 80s. Rich and humorous, he always acts as a mediator between Chufan and Yiwei. He has no strong opinion on the company he has set up with his two friends, but was determined to keep "Crescendo" going in order to bind their brotherhood intact. Ran over by Shixin's car in episode 27 and was killed In Love With Deng Xueli
Main Villain Teenage version portrayed by Erika Tan 陈蕙薰 One of the members of "Crescendo" in the late 80s. Arrogant and aggressive, she would unscrupulously utilize all means to attain her goals. She sparked a misunderstanding between Yafang and Chufan, resulting in their breakup, to get close to Chufan herself. Irene took advantage of this to win Chufan's attention, and they eventually got married. They later divorced after three years as Chufan was too focused on chasing his passion and neglected Irene. Returning to Singapore years later as a managing director of a venture capital company, she joined the record company as its largest shareholder. Tried to turn back her mistakes because of love in episode 28 but gave up love for career in episode 30, and sold "Crescendo" to a Chinese company
Teenage version portrayed by Bonnie Loo 罗美仪 One of the members of "Crescendo" in the late 80s, gentle and trusting compared to her close confidante, Irene, who has strategically caused Chufan and Yafang to break up in the 80s, in order to get close to him herself. Yiwei, on the other hand, has accompanied Yafang after her breakup with Chufan. Yafang felt grateful and eventually married Yiwei. However, their marriage is on the rocks, following the mishap of their daughter. Helped Yiwei to strive for the local music industry in the end
Teenage version portrayed by Tan Chu Xuan 陈楚璇 Starting out as a member of another xinyao duet, she is famous for her performance in Encounter (邂逅). She chose to break up with her boyfriend and moved to Taiwan after she was offered a contract to further her singing career, but experienced several setbacks, and ended up singing in a rowdy restaurant for a living. David, who has kept Xueli closed to his heart since the 80s, found her in Taiwan and persuaded her to return to Singapore. On the other hand, Xueli has always felt grateful, but not love, towards David. Pregnant at episode 29; having Dawei and hers baby Reconciled with Monica in the end Singing voice provided by Chriz Tong (汤薇恩)
Supporting cast
Dawn Yeoh as Fang Xinyi 方欣仪. Mindee Ong was originally cast to play the role but withdrew from the drama before production starts.[2] A former singer who have feelings for Yiwei. Singing voice provided by Sellyne Chai (蔡违玲)
Singer contracted under Crescendo. Has strong passion for music. She is determine to release an album, but did not have the opportunity to shine after signing with the record company. Even though she has been unable to release her own album, she has not given up. Later, Chufan helped her develop as a singer, while Yiwei brought her to Taiwan to promote her new album, but she is unable to adapt to the Taiwan's culture. She feels lost and wants to quit. With encouragement from Xueli and Wenjie, Alixia eventually gets re-contracted to an independent record company to continue her music dream. Joined Cute Little Kitty in episode 7 and went to Taiwan to further her music career
A sound engineer at the record company, he is a cheerful and optimistic enthusiast in music. He is fond of Alixia and is always supportive of her. After knowing that Alixia has a boyfriend, he falls for Carina Carina's boyfriend in the end
Yang Yiwei and Wang Yafang's son. He has great passion in music and has a talent for song composition. He is introduced to xinyao when trying to woo Carina. He is one of the four selected during Crescendo's auditions and given three months of training.
Reporter and younger brother of Zhang Hongying, plans to take revenge for his brother's mishap He is destined to kill Deng Xueli and destroy her reputation through reporting fake news and, along with Irene, he destroys Crescendo's reputation and causing Yiwei to quit Crescendo
A bright 18-year-old whom, under the influence of her parents, likes xinyao since young. She joins Crescendo as intern and falls for Wenjie. She is being cast for a TVC that went viral online, becoming a much sought after idol after that. She falls for Wenjie and became his girlfriend in the end Singing voice provided by Natalie Tan (陈佳琦)
80's version portrayed by Jason Sim 沈辉 is the judge of the singing competition Yiwei, Yafang, Chufan and Xueli participated in. He continues to give advice to Yiwei in the present day.
One of the four aspiring singers selected through the auditions held by Crescendo and given three months of training. She is later given a contract with Crescendo.
Founder of Everest Investment. Intelligent, capable and practical. He grew up in poor living conditions; started his business from scratch and is currently single. He has the gift to identify high return investments. Wei Nian is Irene's boss. He holds high confidence in her abilities and understands her well. He does not want Irene to be emotionally affected at work due to unrequited relationships. Alongside Irene, he plans to takeover Crescendo and remove Yiwei's contract with the Crescendo
Charles Lee 李家庆
Wang Jianwei 王建维
One of the four aspiring singers selected through the auditions held by Crescendo and given three months of training.
One of the four aspiring singers selected through the auditions held by Crescendo and given three months of training.
Danny Yeo 杨君伟
Richard
Carina's father
Boon Ang 洪伟文
Zhang Hongying 张宏鹰
Teenage version portrayed by Rayner Lim 林佳陞 Deng Xueli's ex-boyfriend and Zhang Shixin's elder brother. He suffered a leg injury. Died from a terminal disease in episode 26 Encounter(邂逅) voice provided by Jacky Chew (周玮贤)
A compilation album showcasing songs from Crescendo will be pre-released during the Crescendo Concert on 14 November 2015, and was subsequently released in CD-Rama stores on 16 November. It comprises 3 original songs, as well as 19 remakes of Xinyao songs.
Originally, the show title was going to be "Our Story" (我们的故事). The title was changed during pre-production, possibly to avoid confusion with the movie Long Long Time Ago, which has the same Chinese title.
Boon Hui Lu played Huiru, a singer with the same Chinese name pronunciation but in the musical, she played Irene, a totally different character.
Crescendo the Musical
In 2016, it was announced that a musical based on the series, titled Crescendo the Musical, would be presented at Kallang Theatre.[3]
